The coffee industry in Australia is shifting and forward-thinking companies like La Marzocco are developing equipment to keep up with the evolving market. Meet Wally Milk, the automatic milk steamer that’s turning automation sceptics into believers.
At the end of March 2025, La Marzocco published a first-of-its-kind body of research on Australian coffee culture. The result of interviews with leading figures in the coffee and hospitality industries, data from trusted sources, and insights from the senior team at La Marzocco Australia, the Future of Coffee Report outlines coffee’s key challenges and opportunities.
The 24-page report covers a huge range of topics, from trends and their opportunities to how innovative equipment is evolving the workflow of baristas. Yet, for La Marzocco Australia Managing Director Barry Moore, the most prominent finding was the rising consumer preference for specialty coffee’s influence on hospitality businesses’ approach.
“In 2025, serving a good cup of coffee is no longer enough: it has to be exceptional. Customers are increasingly willing to pay a premium for high-quality, ethically sourced coffee, and that means businesses must step up their game in sourcing, brewing, and service quality,” says Barry.
“Whether it’s a small neighbourhood café or a high-end hotel, coffee can significantly enhance the customer experience and drive repeat business.”
Over the past decade and thanks to the strong specialty coffee culture established in Australia, consumers have come to expect quality coffee in all manner of venues. While cafés continue to set the standard, other hospitality settings, businesses, and corporate spaces have followed suit to offer an excellent cup.
“For a long time, coffee in Australia and especially in places like Melbourne has been tied to brunch culture. Enjoying a good coffee often meant sitting down for a while and spending a greater amount of money,” says Brydon Price, La Marzocco Australia National Sales Manager.
“But coffee culture has evolved and specialty coffee has become a product for everyone in a huge range of settings. Today, there’s no reason to accept bad coffee because good coffee is available almost everywhere. Whereas previously venues like hotels, restaurants, and offices were often left behind, they are now rapidly playing catch up as consumers expect quality coffee everywhere they go.”
One of the major focuses of the report was how automation and innovative equipment would shape the future of the café industry in Australia. The report found businesses are increasingly utilising automation to ensure consistency and efficiency, with the adoption of automated equipment on the rise.
Technology is helping baristas optimise their workflow, giving them more time to focus on the customer experience rather than making manual adjustments.
“It’s often assumed there’s a resistance to innovation in espresso technology and there’s a fear around a tipping point in automation. However, we’ve found there’s an openness to embrace this innovation,” says Brydon.
“For example, we’ve recently connected many of our espresso machines and grinders to the cloud, which has been very popular with roasters who want this kind of data. Traditionally, data hasn’t meant a lot in the coffee industry and people haven’t known how to use it, but the industry has advanced and modernised, and these stats are now being used to increase profitability, consistency, and efficiency.”
Meet Wally Milk For La Marzocco Australia, one such innovation that’s been embraced by the local industry is its Wally Milk automatic milk steamer. The independent piece of equipment acts as an additional steam wand, texturing the milk to an exact pre-programmed recipe, ready for the barista to execute the final latte-art touch. It can be connected to all professional La Marzocco and Modbar machines, as well as most other commercial espresso machines.
“Wally isn’t a coffee robot, rather an extension of the coffee machine a venue already has. It’s a third steam wand exactly where you need it to be,” say Brydon.
“Once the barista presses the button, the Wally does the rest of the task of steaming the milk.”
The Wally can be programmed with up to 20 recipes for different milk alternatives, temperatures, and levels of aeration. While it’s handy to have so many recipes available at the touch of a button, Brydon says most venues only rely on three or four because of the Wally’s vortex steam tip.
“The simplicity of the Wally is one of its greatest selling points. While it’s capable of running 20 recipes, most users can get everything done with just three – they only need to select how hot and foamy they like the milk,” he says.
“This is because you can use the same recipe for every type of milk, even oat milk. The vortex steam tip swirls the milk quite aggressively, which for alternative milks means they will be stretched and textured for a longer period, producing a uniform milk foam that won’t split in the cup.”
The Wally comes with three milk pitchers (250 millilitres, 400 millilitres, and 700 millilitres), which are automatically recognised by the machine’s infrared sensors. Once the filled milk pitcher is placed on the Wally’s tilting platform and the recipe is selected, the tray tilts as it steams to replicate the movements of the barista. Brydon believes the Wally is an essential tool for a variety of busy coffee environments.
“We’ve introduced Wallys in very diverse environments for very different solutions – from Bunnings cafés to CBD specialty coffee shops. In some settings, it’s there as assistance to a small team doing multiple jobs, such as making coffee and heating food. Whereas in other settings, it helps reduce wait times in busy periods,” he says.
“The first Australian café we trialled it in was Three Bags Full, just down the road from our showroom in Abbotsford. For them, it meant they could be more versatile and get through the morning rush more efficiently without having to pull another member off the café floor. It also meant they could save a bit on labour and send someone home a little earlier.”
Since the technology was released in 2021, it’s been widely celebrated by the Australian market – a café culture that embraces milk-based coffees like no other.
“The Wally was designed for the needs of a milk-centred coffee market like Australia. In a high-performance environment like ours, it’s designed to make the life of a barista much easier,” says Brydon.
Conquering the morning rush One of Wally’s early adopters was Michael Borstrock, Owner of Lobby Espresso
Group. His venue in the lobby of Westpac’s head office in Sydney was one of the first cafés in the country to install a Wally on its bar.
With more than 6000 employees at Westpac and around 3,500 staff in the building each day, Lobby Espresso is set up for speed and efficiency. On busy days, the team of eight can serve up to 1000 coffees and get through about 10 kilograms of beans.
“We pride ourselves on consistency and speed, so our setup during busy periods is a very slick operation. If something isn’t right, the wheels will come off,” Michael says.
“The team at La Marzocco approached me just before the launch of the Wally to trial it in our store and I haven’t looked back since we added it to our workflow. Now, I don’t understand why anyone in the industry wouldn’t have a Wally on their workbench.”
Michael believes the Wally is one of the most cost-effective automatic milk steamers on the market. During the morning rush between 7am and 11am, Lobby Espresso will have one barista pulling shots, another steaming milk on the traditional machine and the Wally in unison, and a third pouring milk.
“Wally ticks all the boxes. In our busy periods, we’ll just use it for regular and skimmed milk and use one size jug so it’s just a continuous stream of perfectly steamed milk. You just push the button and it does what it needs to do – it never lets me down,” he says.
“For me, one of the best selling points is that it’s so simple to clean and you don’t have to buy specific chemicals from La Marzocco. I’m not contracted or beholden to any company to purchase their products to satisfy a warranty. It’s simply cleaned with water, as per a standard steam wand.”
Embracing automation Another company to embrace Wally is Axil Coffee Roasters in Melbourne. Founder David Makin says at first his team were reluctant to adopt the new technology, yet now the automatic milk steamer is an essential part of their workflow.
“Whenever you introduce a new piece of technology it’s going to be a process for the team to adapt because most people don’t like change,” says David.
“We first introduced a Wally to our original café in Hawthorn. It took a bit of time to work out how the automatic steamer would fit into our workflow and which milks we’d use it for, but once it was fully ingrained in our system it became an essential tool.”
David says the rise of alternative milks over the past decade has had a considerable impact on the workflow of his venues. When the Hawthorn café first opened in 2011 it served three different types of milk – today if offers seven.
“In 2011 we offered full cream, skimmed, and soy milks, and back then around 60 per cent of our customers ordered full cream. Now, the percentage is spread evenly across all seven milks we have on the menu. It’s put a lot of pressure on the baristas,” he says.
“This is where introducing Wally has a been a great help as it adds an additional steam wand with pre programmed recipes. We’ve since rolled it out at all our sites and introduced it to some of our wholesale accounts.”
As well as juggling an increasing number of milks and alternatives over the past decade, the industry has also faced staff recruitment and retainment issues. David believes this is another area for which Wally has provided a solution.
“In the mornings, we often had the problem that we need three baristas on the bar to get through the rush until about 11, but after that we only required two. However, most staff don’t want three- to four-hour shifts, they want a full day’s work,” he says.
“The Wally has enabled us to reduce the staff in the morning to two, which has also reduced our labour costs. It allows us to run a little leaner on staffing without compromising efficiency or consistency. A Wally costs a café owner about $5 a day, with no payroll tax or sick days – for us that’s a win-win situation.”
For more information, visit au.lamarzocco.com
This article appears in the June 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
